Cycling Naturalist
Guru
- Location
- Llangollen
Be cheap, be selective. It's that simple.
How to attract a good tenant
- Thread starter Mrs M
- Start date
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Be cheap, be selective. It's that simple.
jonny jeez
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chislehurst, Kent, UK
Local hospital bulletin board?
I've been a landlord since 1980, so some experience of the good, the bad and the ugly tenant.
I have a number of house 'rules,' some of which are not very nice, but it's decades of experience that have built them up.
Rule 1. I always use an agent to find my tenants, they will charge me about 12% for the task, so about one months rent, I consider this money well spent, I would not even consider sites such as Gumtree, although I might consider some of the on-line agents in future
I give the agents a list of my likes and dislikes for the particular property, as a blanket rule, no DSS, no Students, no council tenants, no multiple sharers, no pets, no smokers, and before anyone says anything about those exclusions, the vast majority of Buy To Let mortgages have those conditions before they will give a landlord a loan.
Due to the Conservative Governments latest law, which makes landlords responsible for illegal immigrants, I will only accept EU and Scandinavian passports. Don't bother applying if you don't have one.
Once they have got past those minimum requirements, and they like the flat, then we go for the full credit check, bank statements, salary statements, tax statements, previous landlord (and I phone them up), and work statements ( and I call them as well) if, as has happened, companies will not provide details of their staff, then the staff do not get the property.
(I tell them why, and cc the company)
It may all sound a bit over the top, but if you are lending an asset worth over quarter of a million quid to someone, you need to know exactly who they are. Any doubts, then find another tenant, it's a landlords market.
As a minimum, I always change a six week deposit, and if I could get 3 months (which is normal elsewhere in Europe ) then I would. I protect all my own deposits.
That all said, in 35 years of doing this, I've only had to take one tenant to court, I've had a few bad ones, a couple of ugly ones and many dozens of really good ones, some of whom have stayed for years and years, and even some who have come back a decade later.
I've been invited to tenants weddings bar mitzvahs, and funerals, I still keep in touch with tenants of 30 years ago, and I have provided them references for other landlords and house purchases,
I have a number of house 'rules,' some of which are not very nice, but it's decades of experience that have built them up.
Rule 1. I always use an agent to find my tenants, they will charge me about 12% for the task, so about one months rent, I consider this money well spent, I would not even consider sites such as Gumtree, although I might consider some of the on-line agents in future
I give the agents a list of my likes and dislikes for the particular property, as a blanket rule, no DSS, no Students, no council tenants, no multiple sharers, no pets, no smokers, and before anyone says anything about those exclusions, the vast majority of Buy To Let mortgages have those conditions before they will give a landlord a loan.
Due to the Conservative Governments latest law, which makes landlords responsible for illegal immigrants, I will only accept EU and Scandinavian passports. Don't bother applying if you don't have one.
Once they have got past those minimum requirements, and they like the flat, then we go for the full credit check, bank statements, salary statements, tax statements, previous landlord (and I phone them up), and work statements ( and I call them as well) if, as has happened, companies will not provide details of their staff, then the staff do not get the property.
(I tell them why, and cc the company)
It may all sound a bit over the top, but if you are lending an asset worth over quarter of a million quid to someone, you need to know exactly who they are. Any doubts, then find another tenant, it's a landlords market.
As a minimum, I always change a six week deposit, and if I could get 3 months (which is normal elsewhere in Europe ) then I would. I protect all my own deposits.
That all said, in 35 years of doing this, I've only had to take one tenant to court, I've had a few bad ones, a couple of ugly ones and many dozens of really good ones, some of whom have stayed for years and years, and even some who have come back a decade later.
I've been invited to tenants weddings bar mitzvahs, and funerals, I still keep in touch with tenants of 30 years ago, and I have provided them references for other landlords and house purchases,
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OP
OP
Mrs M
Guru
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
Excellent advice, thanks.
ayceejay
Guru
- Location
- Rural Quebec
Here in Quebec a rental is on a one year lease, What the lease stipulates is that you do this and we do this, and is legally binding.
The best way for a landlord to deal with this is to collect the rent in person or have an agent do it once a month.
The tenant pays and says, the landlord has a look and takes the money. If the tenant is doing anything that will reduce the
value of the property this is addressed immediately, if the landlord is not maintaining the property as he agreed he would
he is in breach of the contract/lease.
Obviously in practice it is not that simple.
The best way for a landlord to deal with this is to collect the rent in person or have an agent do it once a month.
The tenant pays and says, the landlord has a look and takes the money. If the tenant is doing anything that will reduce the
value of the property this is addressed immediately, if the landlord is not maintaining the property as he agreed he would
he is in breach of the contract/lease.
Obviously in practice it is not that simple.
srw
It's a bit more complicated than that...
And this is why I think amateur landlordism is unhelpful - that's a proper professional approach. If all amateur landlords were as professional it might go some way to restoring their reputation.
As aa matter of curiosity, if the tenant asked you for similar checks (references from other tenants, business accounts, bank references etc) would you be in a position to supply them?
Levo-Lon
Guru
its done through an Agent...so why should the owner prove anything, its them taking the risk with their house.
Were you thinking If the owner is well off you can avoid paying?..fook him like..
PhilDawson8270
Veteran
I would be thinking more about the landlord keeping your money, not paying the mortgage, and then getting evicted from the house.
I would be thinking about whether the landlord is actually any good, helpful, able, and willing to sort issues in good time. Especially if entering into a lengthy contract with them also. I'd like to know that they have the funds available to fix any emergency maintenance issues with the property too.
martint235
Dog on a bike
- Location
- Welling
I rented for years. Some of the "rules" given strike me as a bit strange, for example asking the employer. There is no way my employer would speak to a landlord about me, two laws would be broken to start with.
You also have to beware of some landlords. One that I had didn't pay his mortgage for months. We got a letter telling us we'd be kicked out, complained to landlord ("Oh I've sorted it all now". Another letter giving the repossession hearing date and the locksmiths turned up. One of the guys I shared with (5 professional people) went to court to ask for some leeway (granted). We got no thank you from the landlord for saving him from repossession and strangely we didn't feel guilty about not giving a months notice of leaving.
You also have to beware of some landlords. One that I had didn't pay his mortgage for months. We got a letter telling us we'd be kicked out, complained to landlord ("Oh I've sorted it all now". Another letter giving the repossession hearing date and the locksmiths turned up. One of the guys I shared with (5 professional people) went to court to ask for some leeway (granted). We got no thank you from the landlord for saving him from repossession and strangely we didn't feel guilty about not giving a months notice of leaving.
I take it that's a "no" then...
Yes.
And I have been asked.
I'm a long term member of the NLA, (National Landlords Assoc.)
Any agent I use will be a member of ARLA
All my deposits are with one of the two government approved schemes, which can be checked
I'd have no problem with them talking to most of my previous tenants, (other than the one I took to court)
If they wanted bank references, then I'm not sure its any business of a prospective tenant, but I see where you are coming from, so I'd be quite happy if the bank could provide a reference to say the mortgages have always been paid on time, there is money in the account, and the landlord appears to be a preferential client of B&Q given the amount he spends there each year.
